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How long can any of us live without
air? A few minutes at best? How long can we live spiritually without
prayer? Frankly, I often take prayer for granted. But I doubt that
I’m alone in that regard. Just as air goes unnoticed until it is
absent, prayer can, inversely, sometimes be absent until we suddenly
find ourselves in a crisis that leaves us gasping for spiritual air.

Today’s readings, as different as
they are from each other, highlight two aspects of prayer that are,
paradoxically, often overlooked and yet are readily obvious to all of
us. The Catechism of the Catholic Church refers directly to
these two qualities:

“Before confronting his elder brother
Esau, Jacob wrestles all night with a mysterious figure who refuses
to reveal his name, but he blesses him before leaving him at dawn.
From this account, the spiritual tradition of the Church has retained
the symbol of prayer as a battle of faith and as the triumph of
perseverance.” (par. 2573).

Prayer, then, is both a battle of faith
and the triumph of perseverance. We usually don’t think of prayer
in these terms because, I think, we often envision prayer as having
to be serene and peaceful, a smooth path of communication between God
and ourselves. Yet, on the other hand, we all know that prayer often
is a battle; it is a struggle against our natural inclination to not
pray if we “don’t feel like it.” And prayer can also reveal to
us the grim reality of spiritual warfare. This battle, the Catechism
insightfully points out, shows us that “Christian prayer is neither
an escape from reality nor a divorce from life.” Rather, just as
the life and letters of Mother Teresa demonstrate, “our battle has
to confront what we experience as failure in prayer: discouragement
during periods of dryness…” (par. 2728).

Today’s first reading, from the book
of Exodus, provides a dramatic example of prayer as a battle and a
victory of perseverance. The passage describes the Israelites being
attacked by the Amalekites, who were descendents of Jacob’s
brother, Esau. Moses takes up the staff of God, which had been used
previously to defeat the Pharoah, and stands on a hill, with hands
raised, overlooking the battle. The word “prayer” doesn’t
appear, but clearly Moses, the God-chosen leader of the Israelites,
is upholding his embattled people in prayer and, when he tires, is
helped by the high priest, his brother Aaron.

Justin Martyr, in his
Dialogue with Trypho, interpreted Moses’ actions as a
foreshadowing of the sign of the Cross, and John Chrysostom took up
this same image, writing, “But Christ, when he came, himself held
his hands extended on the cross by his own power.”

Both
Jesus, in today’s Gospel, and Paul, in the epistle, talk about
perseverance in prayer and faith. The Apostle to the Gentiles
exhorted Timothy, his surrogate son in the Faith, to “remain
faithful to what you have learned and believed” and then solemnly
charged him to “proclaim the word” and “be persistent.” What
we believe and what we pray are intimately connected, as expressed in
the ancient statement, lex orandi, lex credendi—“ The law
of prayer is the law of faith” (cf., CCC 1124). Perseverance in
faith is perseverance in prayer.

In Luke 17, read the past few Sundays,
Jesus spoke about faith, indicating that the apostles possessed
little of it. In Luke 18 Jesus is described as telling His disciples
“about the necessity for them to pray always without becoming
weary.” The parable He told was rather humorous—a dishonest judge
gives in to the rightful demands of a widow because he fears she will
beat him up. But the point is just as serious: true faith and
authentic prayer are persevering in nature.

Prayer is often difficult
because it is part of a battle. Praise God, that battle has been won
on the Cross by the Son of Man. May we persevere in faith and prayer,
so we might see Him face to face.

(This "Opening the Word" column originally appeared in the October 21, 2007, issue of Our Sunday Visitor newspaper.)